I have posted a couple of months ago that my old neighbor Marjorie wanted to learn how to shoot a firearm. I got her a .22 LR rifle and she also bought a .22 single action revolver. I taught her the basics and she was very good with her .22 LR rifle and pistol.
We were talking about the club I run shooting long distance and she wanted to try it. So much so she kept asking ( aka nagging ) to go to the range with us.
This month is our Santa Shoot. You shoot Santa at 500 yards and his Reindeer and try to knock the hat off of Santa's head and also Rudolf's hat as well.
I was concerned that Marjorie has never fired a center-fire rifle in her life,nor a scoped rifle at that. I was concerned that her old eyes would have a problem seeing the targets at 500 yards first time out.
I pondered what to let her shoot that would not pound here into the ground or give her "scope-eye". We've all seen the A-holes giving their 90 pound girlfriends a 12 GA. shotgun with slugs to try for the first time shooting.
I dug out my SAKO Riihimaki bolt action rifle in .222 Remington. Sitting on top is a Leopold 10X Target scope both made in 1959. This rifle has taken many Prairie Dogs in its life by my wife.
I loaded up some Dogtown 50 grain bullets. They will not knock down the targets at 500 yards, but recoil is light.
I gave Marjorie a few minutes lessons on how to sight and adjust the scope. The rifle has a nice two pound trigger pull with no creep.
The wind was 3 mph L to R and I had her hold off on Santa. Her first shot was 1" off at one o'clock. Her next nine shots were all hits in the belt buckle of Santa.
She took a break for an hour and came back to shoot the much smaller reindeer. She fired another ten shots and hit nine of the reindeer ( 14 set up )
Not too bad for someone who has never fired a center-fire rifle let alone firing one at 500 yards! Not bad for a lady almost 80 years old.
Afterwards we all congratulated her on how well she shot. She thought she was supposed to shoot that well and was mad at herself for missing the two shots. Got to love that attitude.
She then informs me that she does not like scope shooting and prefers open sights!
We all got together and she will be getting a AR-15A2 carbine for Christmas. The telescoping stock will really fit her better, she is only 5'2" tall.

The Santa Target. It has been shot a few hundred times.Yes there are holes in the plate. Shoot through a hole and it is a miss.

Right bank of reindeer and wind flag

Rudolf the what-ever-color-paint-we-have-left-over Nosed reindeer.

Left bank of reindeer

Marjorie sighting in on a reindeer, I'm a stickler on never placing your finger near the trigger until you are ready to shoot. t She listens well.
She was having so much fun.She made my day.

Tin Can Sailor
'Nam Vet
NRA Endowment Member
President New Mexico Military Surplus Rifle Pistol Shooters

UPDATE: 12/28/2017
She now has an AR15 carbine with open sights and a scope. The collapsing stock fits her well and she can obtain the proper sight picture.
I took a hundred rounds of 55 grain ammo and my reacting prairie dog target and set it to 100 yards.
I showed her how to take the rifle apart and the safe operation of the rifle.
We went outside and zeroed the carbine. She then proceeded to hit the target many times with open sights. I mounted the scope and zeroed it as well. She then proceeded to hit the target several times in a row.
Needless to say she is very happy with the carbine.
Now I have to build a safe backstop for her. Due to the high winds at her place a soil berm may not last very long.
I have a large 5/8" steel plate I may use to deflect the bullets into the ground so she has a safe range to use.

Tin Can Sailor
'Nam Vet
NRA Endowment Member
President New Mexico Military Surplus Rifle Pistol Shooters

UPDATE: 12/28/2017
She now has an AR15 carbine with open sights and a scope. The collapsing stock fits her well and she can obtain the proper sight picture.
I took a hundred rounds of 55 grain ammo and my reacting prairie dog target and set it to 100 yards.
I showed her how to take the rifle apart and the safe operation of the rifle.
We went outside and zeroed the carbine. She then proceeded to hit the target many times with open sights. I mounted the scope and zeroed it as well. She then proceeded to hit the target several times in a row.
Needless to say she is very happy with the carbine.
Now I have to build a safe backstop for her. Due to the high winds at her place a soil berm may not last very long.
I have a large 5/8" steel plate I may use to deflect the bullets into the ground so she has a safe range to use.

Today she got a surprise gift from me with the help of another member,Mike. I built her a 5/8" thick 4 foot by 3 foot steel bullet deflector. It weighs about 500 pounds. This will deflect any bullet under .50 BMG into the ground so she has a safe range. It is set up 100 yards from her shooting table she just bought. I also made an AR500 full sized 3/4" thick Chicken target that swings when hit.( she can move back to two hundred yards with ease.)
We set it up at 10:00 AM this morning and she had so much fun shooting we did not leave until 3PM. Weather was dead calm and 50 Degrees F.
She fired her new AR15 Carbine,My M-1 Carbine, her Remington 514 .22LR rifle and Mike's S&W .45 Colt 4" revolver and a new 1911 pistol Mike brought. Mike also made her a heavy duty rifle rest.
Margery had so much fun she could not stop smiling. She fired a couple hundred rounds today. She is a dead-shot. A real natural. Everything she has shot so far she has shot very well.

Tin Can Sailor
'Nam Vet
NRA Endowment Member
President New Mexico Military Surplus Rifle Pistol Shooters